29 Dec The value of the U.S. dollar

ECON312N Principles of Economics

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1 Market Concentration of Firms and the Determination of Price and Output

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 8, 12, 13

Lesson

Minimum of 1 scholarly source

Introduction

Firms in the healthcare industry do not seem to have features of a perfectly competitive market structure and, therefore, must not be classified as such. Those firms fall somewhere within the continuum from monopolistically competitive and oligopoly markets to monopoly markets (specifically regional monopolies).

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, decide if you agree or disagree with the introductory statement.

If you agree with this statement, provide at least two examples of firms in the healthcare industry (pharmaceutical companies, medical centers, insurance companies etc.) and identify the features the firms you selected have that make you believe that they should be classified in one or several of the following market structures: monopolistically competitive and oligopoly market structures; monopoly market structures.

If you disagree with the statement above, name at least two firms in the healthcare industry (pharmaceutical companies, medical centers, insurance companies etc.) and provide reasons why those firms you selected can be classified as perfectly competitive firms.

Note: the two examples must come from different industry groups – for example, both firms cannot be insurance companies.

DQ2 Foreign Exchange and the Balance of Trade

Introduction

The value of the U.S. dollar relative to the value of other major currencies has always been an issue of contention among foreign exchange experts and policymakers. There is a school of thought that strongly believes that keeping the value of the U.S. dollar high relative to other major currencies would be beneficial for the U.S. economy. On the other hand, there are those who feel that such a policy could be detrimental to the U.S. economy.

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, explain where you stand on the issue and provide reasons to support your position.

If you agree with keeping the value of the U.S. dollar high relative to other major currencies, identify one or more reasons that you find convincing about the line of argument presented by those opposed to a relatively high value for the dollar. What proposals would you make to allay the concerns of those opposed to it?

If you disagree with keeping the value of the U.S. dollar high relative to other major currencies, identify one or more reasons that you find compelling about the line of argument of proponents of a relatively high value for the dollar. What proposals would you make to ease the concerns of proponents of raising the value of the dollar?